Purchase your tickets for our annual Creativity Raffle until December 3rd. All entrants have the chance choose their possible prize including an art party, instant art collection or a custom pet portrait. We can’t wait to draw the winners!

The CAC office will be closed December 23rd –January 2nd and will reopen Tuesday, January 3rdresuming normal office hours. From everyone here at CAC, Happy Holidays!

PRACTICE: Ceramic & Jewelry Department Exhibition at CAC

Featuring the work of CAC teaching artists and students, this exhibition is the final installment of the year in the ongoing Process to Product exhibition series and will be on view throughJanuary 20th. Many items will be for sale just in time for the holidays!

Cedars Social, a “cocktail den and kitchen” located on South Lamar has recently added a Container Bar to their outside patio. Keep an eye out in the coming weeks for a Call to Artists (exclusive to CAC Members) detailing how you can be involved in creating a mural that will face the Dallas Police Headquarters.

As our 50th anniversary draws to a close, I’m reflecting how incredible 2016 has been for CAC and me personally. It was an exciting year of creativity and collaboration resulting in achievements that we never imagined. We began the year with the launch of the anniversary at the opening of The Legacy of Octavio Medellin: His Work and Influence at the Latino Cultural Center in which more than 300 people attended. The celebration continued when we hosted our 50th anniversary fundraiser, The Blue Plate Special, in April that was attended by more than 200 people and featured the silent auction of hundreds of artist-designed plates. It culminated in October at the City Performance Hall where more than 250 people previewed the Octavio Medellin Map & Driving Tour as well as enjoyed performances by traditional Aztec dancers, a student mariachi band and a brief commission play performed in both English and Spanish.

From the first brainstorming session with our fantastic advisory committee two years ago to the exciting relationships we created with many stakeholders old and new, the anniversary was a journey that allowed CAC to elevate its status in the community. We are especially grateful to SMU’s Jerry Bywaters Special Collection at the Hamon Arts Library which houses Medellin’s archives and the City of Dallas’ Office of Cultural Affairs both of which supported us completely along the way.

For me personally, 2016 marked the 10th year of my tenure at CAC, and I’m so grateful to the original board that took the risk to hire a “non-arts” person for the job. I have been privileged to have had several wonderful mentors all of my professional career, but the two women that have served in that capacity in this job and also served as CAC 50th anniversary Honorary Co-Chairs – Gail Sachson and Patricia Meadows – have been miracles in my life.

I had the opportunity to hear Rev. Richie Butler of St. Paul United Methodist Church, speak at the Dallas Arts District Breakfast this week and to paraphrase, he noted that “religion divides, politics divide, but art and creativity unite us for a common good.” For those of us working in this field and for the many arts organizations making an impact, our job is to provide sanctuary, now more than ever. As Alice Walker writes, “Though we have encountered our share of grief and troubles on this earth, we can still hold the line of beauty, form and beat. No small accomplishment in a world as challenging as this one.”